The writer of Hebrews often uses the word ‘better’ to describe Jesus. In one sense Jesus is incomparable. He is unique: the majestic Christ supreme over everyone and everything. However, in terms of salvation history Jesus is indeed ‘better’: better than angels, Moses, Joshua, a better high priest sacrifice, and rest to name but a few.

And now the writer invites us to reflect on our relationship with Jesus in what has been described as ‘one of the most fascinating, enigmatic and tightly argued sections of Hebrews’. The Israelites of old failed to enter God’s rest through unbelief and disobedience. However, rest is more than a metaphor for the Promised Land. The inclination to enter God’s rest still stands millennia after that event.